Specialties | DIVISION OF HEALTH BEHAVIOR RESEARCH
Introduction
The Division of Health Behavior Research is devoted to research and
training in clinical care, patient education and health psychology. It
is part of both the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of
Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine.
The division was founded in 1977 as the "Diabetes Education Center" of
the department's Diabetes Research and Training Center, supported by a
major grant from the National Institutes of Health. Initial projects
included development of a series of courses to train nurses, dietitians
and other health professionals in basic clinical aspects of diabetes
care and patient education. These courses have since expanded to include
such topics as patient counseling and organizational and administrative
aspects of effective diabetes care programs. In addition, the Diabetes
Education Center has developed educational programs in diabetes care for
a wide range of professionals, including social workers, pharmacists and
teams of physicians and other health professionals interested in the
latest technologies in insulin delivery and metabolic control.
Ranging across the many disciplines of both the medical school and the
faculty of Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, the
interests of the center staff included a variety of preventive and
health care activities in diabetes and other diseases. Therefore, in
1984, the center joined with the medical school's Specialized Center of
Research in Ischemic Heart Disease to launch several research projects
in prevention and management of cardiovascular disease, funded by the
National Institutes of Health.
The development of active research in cardiovascular disease to
complement that in diabetes resulted in adoption of the name Center for
Health Behavior Research. In December 1997, the center became a division
of the Department of Internal Medicine and the Department of Pediatrics.
Recognizing its pertinence to many areas of health care in both acute
and chronic disease, the division has developed further collaboration
with other research centers in the medical center, including those
sponsored by the National Institutes of Health in Alzheimer's disease
and in immunologic disease. An important initiative of the division is
its central role in prevention and control activities of the Alvin J.
Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington
University School of Medicine. This includes research aimed at cancer
prevention and ways to encourage early identification of cancers while
they are still treatable. It also includes research and innovative
clinical plans addressing the psychosocial needs of patients with cancer
and their families.
Division of Health Behavior Research
Washington University School of Medicine
Suite 6700
4444 Forest Park Ave.
St. Louis, Mo. 63108
(314) 286-1900 (Voice)
(314) 286-1919 (Fax)
(314) 286-1900 (Voice)
(314) 286-1919 (Fax)
(888) 503-2237 (Toll-free)
(314) 286-1900 (Voice)
(314) 286-1919 (Fax)
(800) 678-4357 (Toll-free)
U.S. Mail
Washington University School of Medicine
Department of Pediatrics
Division of Health Behavior Research
Campus Box 8504
660 S. Euclid Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63110-1093
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SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
